This invention is directed to devices and methods for generating light with plasma lamps. More particularly, the present invention provides a plasma lamp driven by a radio-frequency source without the use of electrodes inside the bulb. Such plasma lamps can be applied to lighting applications for stadiums, parking lots, military and defense, streets, buildings, vehicle headlamps, aircraft landing lights, bridges, uv water treatment, agriculture, architectural lighting, stage lighting, medical illumination, microscopes, projectors and displays, as well as other uses.
Plasma lamps provide extremely bright, broadband light, and are useful in many applications, such as general illumination, projection systems, and industrial processing. The typical plasma lamp manufactured today contains a mixture of gas and trace substances that are excited to form a plasma using a high current passed through closely-contacting electrodes. This arrangement, however, suffers from deterioration of the electrodes inside the bulb, and therefore a limited lifetime. Other limitations also exist with conventional plasma lamps.
From the above, it is seen that techniques for improving plasma lamps are highly desirable.